Analyses of the performance of the Ebola virus disease alert management system in South Sudan: August 2018 to November 2019.
South Sudan implemented Ebola virus disease preparedness interventions aiming at preventing and rapidly containing any importation of the virus from the Democratic Republic of Congo starting from August 2018. One of these interventions was a surveillance system which included an Ebola alert manageme...
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2020-11-01
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| Series: | PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
| Online Access: | https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0008872&type=printable |
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| author | Olushayo Oluseun Olu Richard Lako Sudhir Bunga Kibebu Berta Matthew Kol Patrick Otim Ramadan Caroline Ryan Ifeanyi Udenweze Argata Guracha Guyo Ishata Conteh Qudsia Huda Malick Gai Dina Saulo Heather Papowitz Henry John Gray Alex Chimbaru Kencho Wangdi Steven M Grube Beth Tippett Barr Joseph Francis Wamala |
| author_facet | Olushayo Oluseun Olu Richard Lako Sudhir Bunga Kibebu Berta Matthew Kol Patrick Otim Ramadan Caroline Ryan Ifeanyi Udenweze Argata Guracha Guyo Ishata Conteh Qudsia Huda Malick Gai Dina Saulo Heather Papowitz Henry John Gray Alex Chimbaru Kencho Wangdi Steven M Grube Beth Tippett Barr Joseph Francis Wamala |
| author_sort | Olushayo Oluseun Olu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | South Sudan implemented Ebola virus disease preparedness interventions aiming at preventing and rapidly containing any importation of the virus from the Democratic Republic of Congo starting from August 2018. One of these interventions was a surveillance system which included an Ebola alert management system. This study analyzed the performance of this system. A descriptive cross-sectional study of the Ebola virus disease alerts which were reported in South Sudan from August 2018 to November 2019 was conducted using both quantitative and qualitative methods. As of 30 November 2019, a total of 107 alerts had been detected in the country out of which 51 (47.7%) met the case definition and were investigated with blood samples collected for laboratory confirmation. Most (81%) of the investigated alerts were South Sudanese nationals. The alerts were identified by health workers (53.1%) at health facilities, at the community (20.4%) and by screeners at the points of entry (12.2%). Most of the investigated alerts were detected from the high-risk states of Gbudwe (46.9%), Jubek (16.3%) and Torit (10.2%). The investigated alerts commonly presented with fever, bleeding, headache and vomiting. The median timeliness for deployment of Rapid Response Team was less than one day and significantly different between the 6-month time periods (K-W = 7.7567; df = 2; p = 0.0024) from 2018 to 2019. Strengths of the alert management system included existence of a dedicated national alert hotline, case definition for alerts and rapid response teams while the weaknesses were occasional inability to access the alert toll-free hotline and lack of transport for deployment of the rapid response teams which often constrain quick response. This study demonstrates that the Ebola virus disease alert management system in South Sudan was fully functional despite the associated challenges and provides evidence to further improve Ebola preparedness in the country. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6bce75ee655441bcbb367483e3fdc364 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1935-2727 1935-2735 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2020-11-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
| spelling | doaj-art-6bce75ee655441bcbb367483e3fdc3642025-08-20T02:23:18ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases1935-27271935-27352020-11-011411e000887210.1371/journal.pntd.0008872Analyses of the performance of the Ebola virus disease alert management system in South Sudan: August 2018 to November 2019.Olushayo Oluseun OluRichard LakoSudhir BungaKibebu BertaMatthew KolPatrick Otim RamadanCaroline RyanIfeanyi UdenwezeArgata Guracha GuyoIshata ContehQudsia HudaMalick GaiDina SauloHeather PapowitzHenry John GrayAlex ChimbaruKencho WangdiSteven M GrubeBeth Tippett BarrJoseph Francis WamalaSouth Sudan implemented Ebola virus disease preparedness interventions aiming at preventing and rapidly containing any importation of the virus from the Democratic Republic of Congo starting from August 2018. One of these interventions was a surveillance system which included an Ebola alert management system. This study analyzed the performance of this system. A descriptive cross-sectional study of the Ebola virus disease alerts which were reported in South Sudan from August 2018 to November 2019 was conducted using both quantitative and qualitative methods. As of 30 November 2019, a total of 107 alerts had been detected in the country out of which 51 (47.7%) met the case definition and were investigated with blood samples collected for laboratory confirmation. Most (81%) of the investigated alerts were South Sudanese nationals. The alerts were identified by health workers (53.1%) at health facilities, at the community (20.4%) and by screeners at the points of entry (12.2%). Most of the investigated alerts were detected from the high-risk states of Gbudwe (46.9%), Jubek (16.3%) and Torit (10.2%). The investigated alerts commonly presented with fever, bleeding, headache and vomiting. The median timeliness for deployment of Rapid Response Team was less than one day and significantly different between the 6-month time periods (K-W = 7.7567; df = 2; p = 0.0024) from 2018 to 2019. Strengths of the alert management system included existence of a dedicated national alert hotline, case definition for alerts and rapid response teams while the weaknesses were occasional inability to access the alert toll-free hotline and lack of transport for deployment of the rapid response teams which often constrain quick response. This study demonstrates that the Ebola virus disease alert management system in South Sudan was fully functional despite the associated challenges and provides evidence to further improve Ebola preparedness in the country.https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0008872&type=printable |
| spellingShingle | Olushayo Oluseun Olu Richard Lako Sudhir Bunga Kibebu Berta Matthew Kol Patrick Otim Ramadan Caroline Ryan Ifeanyi Udenweze Argata Guracha Guyo Ishata Conteh Qudsia Huda Malick Gai Dina Saulo Heather Papowitz Henry John Gray Alex Chimbaru Kencho Wangdi Steven M Grube Beth Tippett Barr Joseph Francis Wamala Analyses of the performance of the Ebola virus disease alert management system in South Sudan: August 2018 to November 2019. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
| title | Analyses of the performance of the Ebola virus disease alert management system in South Sudan: August 2018 to November 2019. |
| title_full | Analyses of the performance of the Ebola virus disease alert management system in South Sudan: August 2018 to November 2019. |
| title_fullStr | Analyses of the performance of the Ebola virus disease alert management system in South Sudan: August 2018 to November 2019. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Analyses of the performance of the Ebola virus disease alert management system in South Sudan: August 2018 to November 2019. |
| title_short | Analyses of the performance of the Ebola virus disease alert management system in South Sudan: August 2018 to November 2019. |
| title_sort | analyses of the performance of the ebola virus disease alert management system in south sudan august 2018 to november 2019 |
| url | https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0008872&type=printable |
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